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Longmont City Council opposes forcibly annexing enclaves

Instead, staff asked to approach property owners about possibility of their land being within city limits

By John Fryar

Staff Writer

Posted:
10/16/2018 11:26:51 PM MDT

Updated:
10/16/2018 11:28:13 PM MDT

Fox Hill Club member Russ Schell practices on the putting green at the club on Tuesday. The golf club is one of 26 enclaves with whom city council directed staff to discuss possible annexation with owners. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

Longmont should not initiate proceedings to annex more than two dozen property parcels completely surrounded by the city, city council decided Tuesday night.

Council instead directed staff to approach owners of 26 properties with what Mayor Brian Bagley called "a hard sale" pitch about the benefits of moving those unincorporated Boulder and Weld county properties into Longmont.

"I would never be in favor of forced-annexing anyone," said Councilwoman Bonnie Finley, although she said she would favor asking owners of the 26 properties if they would be interested in being annexed.

If any are, Longmont could pursue annexing those enclaves, but it should not annex any properties over owners' objections, Finley said.

Councilwoman Joan Peck said she agreed with Finley, with one exception. She suggested the city should initiate annexation of a property at 250 S. Main St. that is now the location of Euflora Recreational Marijuana. The store on the southeast corner of Main and Ken Pratt Boulevard is operating under a Boulder County license for the retail sales of marijuana and marijuana products.

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Councilwoman Polly Christensen also said the Euflora location should be an exception to a no-forced-annexation policy.

But several of Christensen's and Peck's council colleagues argued against singling out any property for a city-initiated annexation.

Councilwoman Marcia Martin said it would be undesirable to force the annexation of one property whose current use is something "that we do not like," and Councilman Aren Rodriguez agreed.

"I'm for a very robust outreach" to property owners, Rodriguez said of all 26 of the privately owned properties that have been surrounded by Longmont for at least three years, or soon will reach that three-year benchmark set by state law for the city to initiate annexations.

Staff identified a total of 27 parcels that could be targeted for enclave annexations, if the council chose to go that route. Current land uses range from the Fox Hill Club, a private golf course, to several farms, homes and businesses.

However, the city itself owns the 27th property, a parcel on the southeast corner of Union Reservoir and Weld County Road 26.

Christensen said people often choose to live outside a city or town because they prefer "more relaxed county rules" about such things as keeping chickens, geese or livestock on their properties.

While Bagley joined the rest of the council in advocating for contacting property owners to tell them the benefits that could result from getting city services, including utilities and Longmont police and fire responses to emergencies, he also indicated the idea of annexing enclaves was one he found reasonable.

"It's not like we're expanding. It's not like we're conquering" or "building an empire," Bagley said.

The mayor said people living or working on non-city properties already benefit from such things as being able to use city streets when they come and go from the enclaves.

Questions sometimes arise over which local law enforcement agency has jurisdiction when a crime occurs in an enclave, Bagley said, and enclave residents do not always have to observe the same laws or land-use restrictions and conditions as their next-door neighbors inside city limits.

Bagley said when staff contacts property owners about the possibility of being annexed, anyone refusing to consider the possibility should be asked why they are opposed.

Tuesday night's council discussion of what to do about enclaves did not include a formal public hearing.

During a public-comment period earlier in the meeting, however, Phil Willis, who lives on a farm with a Weld County Road 1 address, objected to the possibility that Longmont might forcibly annex his family's farm west of Union Reservoir.

"We were rather surprised" to learn city council was to discuss the possibility of annexing enclaves, Willis said. "We don't feel like we should be forced to annex into the city."

Willis recalled a time in the mid-1950s, when Longmont's boundaries didn't extend east past Martin Street, and said he, his family — including his children and grandchildren — and his neighbors enjoy living in the country.

"If you pursue annexation, please do it on a case-by-case basis with the property owners," Willis told council, asking that it not require owners to move their properties into Longmont.

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